MPs’ business costs

Dame Chi Onwurah

IPSA paid £3,019,953 against 2,874 published rows for Dame Chi Onwurah between 2010-11 and 2025-26 as the member for Newcastle upon Tyne Central BC, then Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West BC. These are the costs of running an office and employing staff under IPSA’s rules. They are not salary, and the largest part of them is wages IPSA pays to the member’s employees rather than money the member receives.

By category, 2021-22

195 claims, £214,037 paid. The headings are IPSA’s own categories grouped; the categories inside each are named on the register page.

Category	What it covers	Claims	Paid	Share
Staffing	The salaries and employment costs of the people an MP employs to run their office and casework. IPSA pays these directly; they are not money an MP receives.	1	£170,440	79.6%
Office costs	Renting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.	152	£18,563	8.7%
Accommodation	The cost of somewhere to stay for an MP whose constituency is far enough from Westminster that IPSA's rules allow it. An MP representing a London seat is not eligible on the same terms.	25	£14,374	6.7%
Travel	Journeys between the constituency and Westminster and within the constituency. Until 2018-19 IPSA published one travel category; from 2019-20 it publishes travel by the MP, by staff and by a dependant separately.	17	£10,661	5.0%

Every year in the register

Dame Chi Onwurah’s own years, not the register’s: the first is 2010-11 and the last is 2025-26. Figures are not adjusted for inflation, so a rise between two distant years is partly a rise in prices. Select a year to read it on its own.

Year	Claims	Staffing	Office costs	Accommodation	Travel	Miscellaneous	Total
2010-11	141	£73,857	£14,516	£10,442	£9,028	—	£107,842
2011-12	151	£114,060	£19,087	£11,301	£14,487	—	£158,936
2012-13	196	£123,873	£18,196	£11,361	£16,334	—	£169,764
2013-14	179	£132,663	£17,232	£11,137	£15,547	£314	£176,892
2014-15	135	£141,906	£18,467	£10,736	£11,445	—	£182,554
2015-16	136	£135,646	£18,482	£9,998	£11,921	—	£176,046
2016-17	186	£137,510	£19,532	£11,091	£15,419	—	£183,552
2017-18	186	£136,357	£22,443	£14,284	£15,515	£863	£189,462
2018-19	175	£152,418	£22,282	£13,294	£17,377	—	£205,371
2019-20	178	£138,316	£18,224	£12,368	£19,512	—	£188,419
2020-21	217	£188,531	£23,828	£13,205	£5,130	—	£230,694
2021-22	195	£170,440	£18,563	£14,374	£10,661	—	£214,037
2022-23	217	£178,835	£20,134	£15,192	£15,484	£960	£230,605
2023-24	274	£216,276	£30,719	£19,014	£14,173	£816	£280,998
2024-25	220	£237,596	£22,830	£20,486	£22,739	—	£303,650
2025-26	88	—	£17,200	£3,931	—	—	£21,131

A year in which Dame Chi Onwurah joined or left the House part-way through is a part year, and is not comparable with a full one.

What each category is made of, 2021-22

The cost types IPSA records inside each heading, largest first by what it paid.

Staffing

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Payroll	1	£170,440

Office costs

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Rent	1	£7,350
Stationery & printing	46	£1,761
Working From Home Allowance	1	£1,528
Landline phone & internet - rental & usage	9	£1,434
Website hosting and design	1	£1,320
Equipment - purchase	8	£1,203

Accommodation

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Rent	12	£10,800
Council tax	2	£1,798
Utilities	10	£1,751
Parking	1	£25

Travel

Cost type	Claims	Paid
Rail	6	£9,568
Hotel - London	1	£708
Mileage - car	2	£207
Taxi	3	£100
Other public transport	2	£38
Railcard	1	£30

Largest claims, 2021-22

The 15 rows IPSA paid most against, with IPSA’s own description of each. Read the description before the amount: IPSA publishes most of a member’s staffing as one row for the whole year — “Total Staffing budget payroll costs for the ⟨year⟩ year” — so the largest row here is usually a year of wages for the member’s employees and not something bought.

Date	Category	Cost type	Description	Claimed	Paid
31 March 2022	Staffing	Payroll	Total Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2021-22 year	£170,440	£170,440
31 March 2022	Office Costs	Rent	Aggregated figure for this business cost and budget category in 2021-22	£7,350	£7,350
31 March 2022	MP Travel	Rail	Aggregated figure for travel during 2021-22	£7,310	£7,310
31 March 2022	Office Costs	Working From Home Allowance	Aggregated figure for this business cost and budget category in 2021-22	£1,528	£1,528
1 April 2021	Accommodation	Council tax	CITY OF NEWCASTLE INTE	£1,348	£1,348
13 July 2021	Office Costs	Website hosting and design	chionwurahmp.com via William Mortada	£1,320	£1,320
26 January 2022	Office Costs	Equipment - purchase	Computer, laptop, PC, tablet & accessories	£968	£968
8 March 2022	Accommodation	Rent	—	£900	£900
8 February 2022	Accommodation	Rent	—	£900	£900
11 January 2022	Accommodation	Rent	—	£900	£900
9 December 2021	Accommodation	Rent	—	£900	£900
9 November 2021	Accommodation	Rent	Rent	£900	£900
12 October 2021	Accommodation	Rent	Rent	£900	£900
9 September 2021	Accommodation	Rent	Rent	£900	£900
10 August 2021	Accommodation	Rent	Rent	£900	£900

What this page does not show

Whether any of it was justified. IPSA accepted these claims under its own rules and the register records what was paid, not whether it should have been. A large total is not a finding about the member.

Nor how Dame Chi Onwurah compares with another member. After staffing the largest headings are accommodation and travel, and both are decided mostly by where a constituency is: a member several hundred miles from Westminster is eligible for costs a member with a London seat is not. Two members’ totals are two sets of rules as much as two sets of choices, and the length of service differs too.

It is also not pay. IPSA sets and publishes MPs’ salaries separately and they are not in this register; the staffing figure here is the salaries of the member’s employees.

All MPs’ business costs · Dame Chi Onwurah’s register of interests and votes · Sources